American, b. 1967

Troy Abbott is a multidisciplinary artist currently working in digital media. He graduated from the University of Florida with a degree in Fine Art focusing on drawing, but he gravitated towards the field of digital art. In 2002, Abbott made his first birdcage, inspired by the idea from the classic film Blade Runner in which humans and robots co-exist and are almost interchangeable. His ideas developed and in 2006 he began to make more and more cages. Abbott gave up his job running a nightclub in Fort Lauderdale and dove completely into his exploration of the real and the digital with his cages. He explores the idea of freedom in his pieces, that the birds sit in cage with the doors open, yet they never leave.
Abbotts work is wonderfully subtle yet intriguing. The birds are sometimes color coordinated to the cages, but they always feel as though they are the natural inhabitants of the cages, perhaps they have been there for years. Abbott films real birds, often reusing his subjects, who sit on their perches with the occasional jerk of movement. This draws the attention of the viewer to the cages, which are art unto themselves. Abbott scours thrift stores and vintage shops to find cages he feels have personality. As his work has progressed Abbott has also taken to showing the exposed circuitry that gives the birds life, bringing the digital element up to the vintage and stylistic element of the cages. The result are beautiful pieces that sit quaint and quiet at first glance, but ring of a subtle commentary on the nature of reality.

Education
1990
Bachelor of Fine Arts – Drawing, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL

Selected Group Exhibitions & Fairs
2017
Fragile Ecologies, Art Pier 94 New York, New York, NY
Zoo-Per-Duper, Palm Beach Modern + Contemporary
Bernice Steinbaum Gallery, West Palm Beach, FL

2016
Give Them the Bird, Art Miami, Bernice Steinbaum Gallery, Miami, FL
Northwood, New York City
Walk like the lions, and perform like the pigeons, Art New York Fair
Bernice Steinbaum Gallery, New York,NY
Bird in the Hand, Palo Alto Art Center Alto, CA
Curator’s Choice, National Museum of Wildlife Art, Jackson, WY
Beauty and the Beast: The Animal in Photography Museum of Photographic Arts, San Diego, CA
Lit, Cornell Art Museum at Old School Square, Delray Beach, FL
Art Miami, Miami, FL

2015
The Peaceable Kingdom, Art Miami, FL
Art in the Natural World and Cultured Settings, Art Wynwood, FL

2014
Art Miami, Miami, FL
Art South Hampton Fair, New York, NY, Pan American Art Projects

2013
Scope Basel Switzerland
Reclaimed Miami, Zadok Gallery, Miami, FL
Scope New York, NY
Wynwood Art Fair, February Miami, FL
International Art Fair, Miami FL
Palm Beach International Art Fair, Palm Beach, FL

2012
Scope Basel Switzerland
Warhol is Over, Robert Fontaine Gallery, Miami, FL
Scope New York, New York, FL
Art Naples, Naples, FL
Scope Miami, Miami, FL
Miami International Art Fair, Robert Fontaine Gallery, Miami, FL
Palm Beach International Art Fair, West Palm Beach, FL

2011
Scope Art Fair Miami, FL
Sex Drugs and Profanity, Robert Fontaine Gallery, Miami FL
Home Dream Home, Praxis Gallery, Miami FL
Art Pad SF, San Francisco CA
Spinello Gallery, Miami FL
Abracadabara, Hollywood Center for Arts and Culture
Palm Beach International Art Fair, Palm Beach FL
Miami International Art Fair, Miami Beach, FL
Stencil and Candy, Art Modern Gallery, Wynwood, Miami FL

2010
Verge Art Fair, Miami Beach, FL
E.G. Cody, Miami, FL
Nature Revisions and Dreams, Florida Gulf Coast University, FL
Things I Found / Things I Found and Made, Salon Contemporary, UK

2009
Littlest Sister, Spinello Gallery
Tent Digital, Truman Brewery London, UK
Island Contemporary Exhibition, Captiva Civic Center, FL
Pop Masters, Art Modern Gallery, Naples, FL
Art Object, Art Modern Gallery, Naples, FL

2008
Seasonal Opening, Art Modern Gallery 2008
Pool Art Fair Miami Beach, Miami, FL
Opera Gallery, Paris, FR
Sacred Art, Art Futures @2300 Studio / Gallery Miami, FL
Where the Wild Things (still) Are, Florida Gulf Coast University, Ft Myers
Everyday, H W Gallery, Naples, FL
Art Modern Gallery, Naples, FL

2007
Splendid Illusions, Art Futures @ 2300 Studio / Gallery Miami, FL
Environmental Awakenings, Art Futures @2300 Studio Gallery Miami, FL
V07, Video Art Fair Venice Italy “Cage192 & Cage193” Stereo-Lithographic Fused Deposited ABS, electronic mixed media
Still Life, Cage 187, Diva Fair New York, NY mixed media and video,
Fused Deposited ABS, electronic media
Communion Saves Art, (Painting “Big Bucks”), Miami FL

2006
Various Sculptural Works, Art Futures@2300 Studio Gallery (Wynwood Art Walk Art Basel) Miami, FL,

Books
1+1>2, Artist book (unique)

Exhibition Awards / Catalogs
Miami International Art Fair 2011
TENT DIGITAL, London, UK 2009
DiVA Fair New York 2007
Bridge Fair Catalog, Miami Beach 2008
COMMISSIONS, PUBLIC OR PRIVATE
Royal Caribbean Cruises LTD.
L. Solomon 2007, Santa Barbara, CA
Kuala Lampur, Malaysia
Carrie and Jonathan Awner
Joshua Rechnitz, New York

Selected Collections & Archives
National Museum of Wildlife Art, Jackson, WY
Mordes Collection, Palm Beach, FL
Marvin Ross Friedman, Coral Gables, FL
James & Priscilla Growney, Honolulu, HI
Richard Levine, Miami, FL
L. Solomon, Santa Barbara, CA

Grants & Fellowships
American Foundation for the Arts, 2009
Ferris Award, Nova Southeastern University 1985